St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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18 THE IGNATIAN the government they have adopted the standard plan of studies, and have taught English side by side with Spanish so that their graduates at least understand the English lan- guage, though they may not speak it fluently. According to the World Almanac of 1916, compiled from statistics furnished by the United States Census Bureau, illiteracy of all over 10 years of age prevails in the following countries in the appened percentage: Philippines, 55.5 per cent, Portugal, 68.9 per cent, Bolivia, 82.9 per cent, Bul- garia, 65.5 per cent, Argentina, 54.4 per cent, Brazil, 85.2 per centg Chile, 49.9 per centg Greece, 57.2 per cent: Guate- mala, 92.7 per cent, Russia, 69 per cent, Roumania, 60.6 per centg Serbia, 78.9 per cent. Today, after more than thirteen years of public education, more than 80 per cent of the adult population must be able to read and write. Dr. R. McDill, of Milwaukee, for thirteen years a resident of the Islands, first as an army officer and second as a university professor, on April 9, 1913, in an address to the Milwaukee Press Club, said: As a race, the Filipinos are conservativeg their decisions are arrived at only after a careful consideration of every phase of a question. They are clever lawyers, and their jurists are notably impartial, up- right, and profoundg the decisions reviewed by superior courts compare most favorably with those of the American members of the bench. Senator F. Shafroth, who has made two visits to the Islands, during the discussion of the Philippine Bill in the Senate, said: In a speech I delivered in the House of Representatives 14 years ago, after a visit to the Islands, I made this statement: 'The general impression exists among many Americans that the Philippine people are savages ...... When I iind behind the prescription desks of the numerous drug stores of the Islands. even when kept by Americans and Englishmen, Filipinos compounding medicines, taken from

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ARE THE FILIPINOS EDUCATED? 17 is required to take up agricultural and industrial trainingg for, the child educated as a citizen in the fullest meaning of the term and trained as an agriculturist or a skilled crafts- man is the real product and the demand of the present indus- trial age. To illustrate, the Bureau of Education recently issued a bulletin on plain sewing for the elementary grades- a course intended to train the girls to make clothes for them- selves and for their little brothers and sisters and others at home. The effect of this course in the brief period during which it has been in operation is remarkable and is most gratifying. It can be seen upon the streets of the cities and towns, in all parts of the Islands. While the boys, at prac- tically no expense and with the simple knowledge which they can acquire in the primary grades, are able to furnish their own home with furniture which is attractive and comfort- able-a great step forward in the improvement of home standards. The progress in public education has been made possible by absolute executive control over a single complete system with continuous public support and a loyal corps of teachersg and, because the government has profited by Spanish ex- perience, studied the desires and needs of the Filipinos, made economic and educational surveys, consulted foreign countries having similar conditions, followed the best educational tra- ditions, and made hrst-hand experiments. The cost of public education per capita of total population is 30.495 the post per pupil Cbased on average monthly enroll- mentj is 57.24. The total number of public schools is 4,200 The annual enrollment is 600,000, and the average daily at- tendance is 460,000. There are 530 American and 9,400 Filipino teachers. The director of the Bureau of Education and the president of the University of the Philippines are now Filipinos. It should be borne in mind that the above figures do not include the private schools and universities which are mostly the Spanish institutions reopened. By the order of

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oi ,uh an. 'Om EBU. lllg PQI' Sul- S12 IRIS- per Tttll iduzr rl a wud SS I0 Jinos after lhey .up llllfli iberf 1 Lili 1 ht Q OI ds. l icans an I drug and from ARE THE FILIPINOS EDUCATED? 19 bottles labeled in Latin, when I see behind the counters of banks, having large capitals, natives acting as bookkeepers and receiving tellers, when I find them as merchants and clerks in almost all lines of business, as telegraph operators and ticket agents, conductors and engineers upon railroads, and as musicians rendering upon almost all instruments high-class music, when I am told that they alone make the observations and intricate calculations at the Manila Observa- tory, and that prior to the insurrection there were 2,100 schools in the Islands and 5,000 students at the universities of Manila, when I find the better class living in good, sub- stantial, and sometimes elegant houses, and many of them pursuing professional occupations, I can not but conclude that it is a base slander to compare these people to the Apaches or other American Indians. Even the civilizing test of Christianity is in their favor, as a greater proportion are members of the church than among our own people.' In my recent visit to the Islands, I found not only that the same conditions prevailed, but that there had been great advancement by the Filipinos, especially in occupations re- quiring technical knowledge. 'I'he Philippine people are capable of self-government be- cause they have a deep interest in their country and great love for her and possess a large, highly educated class, thoroughly identified with the best interest of the Islands, who under the educational qualifications now prescribed by law will be elected to legislate and administer the affairs of .gov- ernment. In the last election there, 235,786 voted out of a total registration of 248154. In no State in the Union does such large percentage of electors vote. In Colorado 83 per cent of the men and 80 per cent of the women vote. Among the great achievements of Uncle Sam in the Philip- pines, perhaps the greatest and the one which receives the unanimous approval, support, and enthusiasm of the Filipinos is the present system of education which is founded on the